In a summer season full of sequels, one movie stands out. "Iron Man 2," opening May 7, is the follow-up to 2008�s surprise mega-hit "Iron Man," which took a lesser known Marvel comics character and brought in nearly $600 million worldwide.
It also turned Robert Downey Jr. into a full-fledged movie star and put actor-turned-director Jon Favreau on Hollywood�s filmmaking A-list. Both men reprise their roles for the sequel and Gwyneth Paltrow is also back as Tony Stark�s loyal assistant, Pepper Potts. They�re joined by Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell and Don Cheadle (who takes over for the first film�s Terrence Howard).
The entire crew (except Rockwell, tied up with a play) was on hand at a recent Los Angeles press conference to discuss the film�s production. The following are highlights of that conversation.
Robert Downey Jr., Jon Favreau and more talk Tony Stark's return
"I've never done a sequel before. For me it wasn't the same pressure you usually feel, especially making smaller movies. Here we knew people were gonna show up, we just wanted to make sure everyone who showed up had a good time and this was going to be as fun or more fun than the last one."
"These are all folks I'd be happy to work with in any circumstance in any medium. I felt like a co-manager of a baseball team that got an even better line-up in the spring. I felt a little beholden to be partially responsible for their experience. A lot of that fell on Justin [Theroux, the screenwriter]..."
"It's a heavily improvisational set, everyone gets to chime in. My job as the writer was to stay on the dance shoes of Robert, Jon, Gwyneth and everybody and try to rewrite things on the fly. We had an extensive development process where we had a script and that ball keeps rolling into production. Once we're on set it gets very frenetic very fast."
"I felt very fortunate to get an opportunity to work in a film like this. Terrence is a friend, I've known him for a long time...we're cool. [Working on the movie] was a lot of fun, we get to play with the best toys and the best technology. It's like what you do as a kid but all fleshed out."
"I met with Mickey and brought him some artwork. Whiplash in the comic book is a guy wearing tights with a big purple feather coming out of the top of his head. That wasn't what we wanted. We were concocting a version of a Russian, thinking of Viggo [Mortensen] in 'Eastern Promises' with the tattoos.
"Between Marv [in 'Sin City'] and 'The Wrestler,' between the fanboys and independent film community, [Rourke] was back with a vengeance. There was a lot of people [in the movie], [Whiplash] wouldn't have a tremendous amount of screen time. We needed someone able to make an impression where you feel like [Iron Man] is in trouble. Mickey brought a lot of intensity."
"I had a lot of fun. I worked with some great people. [Favreau] is real easy to work with and makes it fun. I just came off working on a film with no budget [where] I didn't have a chair to sit in. I remember the first day [on Iron Man] I asked for a cappuccino. They said 'what kind would you like?'"
RDJ: "I couldn't get her off me, it was embarrassing."
GP: "It was great because both my husband and his wife were right there."
RDJ: "She said to me that I didn't know what I was doing, it didn't feel good. I'm like, you know what, first of all we're all friends. So what would be creepy would be if I was coming off all sexy. By the way, done that move and it creeps 'em out. Why am I going to creep [her] out? Despite what she said on set she still thinks about it."
"I've never really seen a film of this genre where the female characters' sex appeal came second. To be just a pawn in the story of a whole bunch of men fighting it out�to be a vision in a tight catsuit�is boring to me.
"Jon made it clear from the beginning he felt as far as [my character] Natalie was concerned she was mysterious and nuanced, something to peel back the layers to. He wanted that. That's why I think this film is so much more dynamic�since Gwyneth and I are able to be the brains behind the operation. It adds to the charm and charisma of the finished product."
I think it's a very smart decision to have [female characters] who are capable and intelligent because it appeals to women. It's not only a film for 15 year old boys. It's a film that can relate to a lot of people on a lot of levels. When you take your kid, if you're a mom, it's really fun for you to watch as well. It's nice to see women who are aspirational, smart and sexy all at the same time."
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